Posted on

Paniolos, Hawaiian Cowboys

You might be surprised to see so many cowboy things on the Big Island of Hawaii. But, Hawaii had cowboys first. Really.

Captain George Vancouver gave Kamehameha I a gift of cattle in 1793. The king put a kapu on them. It was criminal to kill them. So the herd grew. And grew.

These are not the pretty cows you might see at a dairy. These were descendants of the cows that had survived and bred in the American west. Tough ornery longhorns. Continue reading Paniolos, Hawaiian Cowboys